Slayers Gateway: Discovery
by SlayersGrl
Summary: The gang gets drawn into another wild adventure.... I know, bad summary... Part 1 of a trilogy in progress... Slight LG, ZA bias...
1. Missing Cows & Strange Role Models

Title: Slayers Gateway: Discovery 

By: Slayersgrl (slayersgrl@yahoo.com)  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Slayers… just borrowing them…

A/N: This is the first in a trilogy I'm working on. Only the first part, Discovery, is done so far… Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

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Lina walked through the woods wearily. "It's been three days since we last saw a village!! I thought you said there was one up ahead!" she exclaimed in frustration. 

Zelgadis, who was leading the group at the moment, slowly stopped and turned around. He glared at the disgruntled sorceress. "Well maybe we would have been there already if you hadn't overslept!" 

Lina glared back at Zel. "Hey, can I help if it a girl needs her beauty sleep!" 

Zel decided there was no way he was going to win this argument. So he just turned back around and started walking again. Amelia, on the other hand, decided to add to Lina's annoyance. 

"Miss Lina, don't you think you could at least walk a little faster. You're trailing so far behind the rest of the group." 

"That's it!" Lina had finally had enough. She held up her hand and a fiery ball appeared. "FIRE…" But before she could finish her spell, two strong arms gripped her from behind, making her stop the spell. 

"Whoa Lina! Calm down!" Gourry said as he tried to get Lina to relax. "Look, we're all a little hungry and tired, but I'm sure we'll find a town soon." 

Xellos, being the 'oh so helpful' Mazoku that he was, calmly added, "**I'm** not hungry." 

It took all of Gourry's strength to hold Lina back… 

Eventually, they came across a small town. Luckily, they were all in once piece: no thanks to Lina however. There was only one restaurant, so the travelers had no choice but to go there. As they headed towards the building, they noticed that the villagers were looking at them strangely. 

Zel, feeling self-conscious, immediately pulled his hood back up and covered his face. Gourry didn't seem to notice. And Xellos just had that big smile on his face. Lina, however, was confused. "I wonder what their problem is?" 

"Well," Amelia replied with a smile, "They probably think we're a group of bandits or something." After a menacing glare from Lina, she decided to hide behind Zelgadis. 

They then walked inside the dim restaurant and took a seat. Lina and Gourry immediately grabbed the menus. Their faces fell once they saw what was listed. "Hey, waitress! Get over here!" Once the waitress got to their table, Lina immediately began to voice her opinion about the choice of entrées. "What's with your menu?! Everything here is vegetarian! Where's all the meat!" 

"I'm s…s…sorry!" the waitress stuttered. "A…A…All the livestock are gone. Some bandits attacked us and all the animals escaped. The only food we have now is from the farms outside of town." 

Lina ears perked up. "Bandits you say? Did they take anything else?" 

"No, just our livestock." The waitress paused. "Actually, the whole thing is really quite perplexing. We didn't even see how many bandits there were. There was too much smoke and flames." Then, returning to her job, she asked, "So, can I take your orders?" 

"We'll just have whatever you can give us…" Lina replied for the others. 

After the waitress left, Gourry suddenly spoke up. "Wow, that's really weird. I guess those bandits must have been pretty hungry, huh Lina." 

Lina was about to whack the swordsman over the head until she realized what he had just said. "You know, as dumb as that sounds, there doesn't seem to be any other reason as to why they would do that. I mean, they didn't even take any gold or anything!" 

"Maybe it wasn't bandits." Xellos interrupted. 

Zel glared at him. "And what exactly is THAT supposed to mean." 

"Uh, nothing… Forget I mentioned it." Xellos was spared from having to say anything more by the arrival of their food. 

Lina just stared at it. Then she noticed that the others were already eating. "Well, it's not what we normally have, but I'm so hungry I'd eat just about anything!" And with that, Lina took a bite. It was actually pretty good! She then ate as much as she could, also helping herself to Gourry's… 

After their 'lunch', they decided to ask a few of the other villagers about this mysterious bandit gang. All Lina and Gourry could find out was that no one had actually seen any of the members of the gang. Apparently, they had a sorcerer/sorceress working for them because right before the attack, several fireballs were thrown into the middle of town. This caused so much smoke and confusion, that no saw anything. 

Amelia and Zelgadis were able to find out something more… There was a reward being offered for whoever could find these bandits and take care of them. Lina immediately decided they should go and collect that reward. She made them all rush out of town. (They picked up Xellos, who had stayed at the restaurant to finish some tea, on the way.) 

After about an hour, Lina's enthusiasm wore off. She had forgotten how hot it was walking through the woods. And, to make it even worse, she was now hungry again! In fact, she was so hungry that she had begun to imagine Gourry was a nice big chicken leg… Right before she completely lost it, she heard a strange noise. "I'm so hungry, I'm hallucinating! I thought I just heard a cow." 

Amelia stopped. "But I heard it too." 

"It came from up ahead." Zel said as he cast a Raywing spell. He then flew to see what the source of the noise was. About a minute after he had left, a loud explosion shook the ground beneath them. The rest of the group quickly ran to see if Zelgadis was all right. 

Lina was the last to reach the clearing: at least, what was left of it… There was now a small crater in the center with charred grass and trees around the edges. Standing a little ways off was Zelgadis, sword drawn and ready. "What happened?" Lina asked as she looked for their attacker. 

"I have no idea," was Zel's reply. "I didn't even see who attacked me. It seemed to come out of nowhere." 

Suddenly another fireball flew through the smoke and headed straight towards Lina, Gourry, Amelia, and Xellos. Xellos just teleported out of harms way, leaving the others to defend themselves... 

Amelia decided she would take care of the situation. She stepped forward and readied her spell. Then she shouted "FIREBALL!" 

"Amelia! Not again!" Lina yelled as she dragged Gourry and Amelia as far away as she could. 

The explosion that followed was somewhat larger than they had expected. The blast flung them all the way to the edge of the clearing. When some of the smoke cleared, Lina, Gourry, and Amelia found themselves standing alone. 

"Mr. Zelgadis! Where are you?" Amelia called out worriedly. 

But before getting a reply, Lina noticed two people running through the trees. She took off without waiting for Amelia or Gourry. After running about ten steps, she realized it would be a whole lot faster to fly. She cast Raywing and was soon soaring above the forest canopy. She couldn't see who was running below, but she had an idea of who one of them was… 

Up ahead, Lina could see that the forest ended and there was only an open field. She smiled and then flew faster to get ahead of those on the ground. She gracefully landed on top of a small hill near the edge of the trees. 

A minute later, a figure ran out of the forest and headed straight for Lina. As the figure came closer, Lina was shocked. Running towards her was a girl, not any older than herself. She had two bright red pigtails tied at the top and ends with white bows. She was dressed in a sorceress' costume consisting of a white shirt and skirt, with gold trim. The girl also wore a shoulder guard over the left shoulder. To complete her outfit, she wore a long black cape. 

But as the girl got closer, Lina could see her casting something… And then a fireball was flying right at her! She barely had enough time to jump out of the way. But as she did so, the girl was then able to run by her. Lina angrily stood up but found herself knocked to the ground again by the girl's pursuer. 

"Hurry up and give me a hand!" came Zelgadis' voice as he chased after the fleeing girl. 

By now, Lina was furious. She quickly cast Raywing and flew past Zel towards the girl. When she was within reach, Lina tackled her from behind. The two sorceresses rolled several times before coming to a stop. Lina had managed to pin the other girl down. 

"Now, you're going to explain to us exactly what you were doing back there!" Lina yelled at the frightened girl. 

Zelgadis slowly walked up behind them. "Way to go Lina. Just frighten the girl to death. I'm sure she'll just tell us everything now." 

Lina just glared at him, then at the approaching Gourry and Amelia, and then back at the girl. 

"Mr. Zelgadis! You're all right!" Amelia exclaimed as she ran up and embraced the chimera. 

Zel tried to pry the princess off of him so he could actually breathe… "Amelia! Do you mind?!" 

The girl was now utterly bewildered. "Uh…" she began. After seeing Lina's expression, she figured she'd better hurry up with her explanation. "Ok… ok… I was the one who attacked the village. But I had to do it!! I couldn't let those poor animals continue to be locked up like that! How can people eat such cute little things?"?!" 

Everyone sweat dropped in unison. "Uh… ok…" Zel mumbled. 

Then she remembered something. "Lina? Did you say Lina? As in, Lina Inverse, the greatest sorceress who ever lived!" she asked excitedly. 

Everyone stared at her in disbelief. Lina slowly let go of the girl and stood up. "Wow, that's a first…" she mumbled. 

"Yeah, no one calls you that but yourself." Zel added under his breath. Luckily, all he got was an angry glare. 

The girl jumped up in excitement. "So you really are Lina Inverse! I've been waiting my whole life to meet you! You've been such a role model for me!" 

Everyone exclaimed in unison, "WHAT!?!" 

Amelia shuddered at the thought. "Miss Lina… a role model?" Amelia got whacked on the head for that one. 

"Uh, so… who exactly are you?" Lina asked, still wary about whether she should be elated or concerned that someone thinks of her as a role model. 

"Oh! Hold on." The girl then proceeded to quickly dust herself off and readjust her cape. She then fixed up her hair as best she could. "Ok, I'm ready." She then posed and began her obviously prepared speech. 

"I am Adara, the dazzling, magnificent fire sorceress! I travel throughout the land, always striving to achieve my ultimate goal: to meet Lina Inverse!" Adara suddenly stopped. "Uh, I guess I've just done that… Now I have to make up a whole new speech! 

Lina had made up her mind: she was afraid, very afraid… 

Just then, Xellos decided to reappear. "My my. This was certainly unexpected." 

Adara then screamed as loud as she could and proceeded to blast Xellos with a fireball. 

"You must admit: she does have your reflexes!" Gourry replied with a laugh. Lina however, didn't respond. "Uh, Lina, are you ok?" As he stepped closer he heard her saying something softly. "Hey Zel, what spell is 'Darkness beyond twilight'?" 

Zelgadis didn't even respond. He grabbed Gourry by the arm, Amelia grabbed the other, and then they flew away as fast as they could. Xellos simply disappeared. 

Adara found herself standing alone. "Uh guys? What's going on?" 

Lina shouted "DRAGON SLAVE!" 


	2. Awkward Moments

Title: Slayers Gateway: Discovery 

By: Slayersgrl (slayersgrl@yahoo.com)  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Slayers… just borrowing them…

A/N: This is the first in a trilogy I'm working on. Only the first part, Discovery, is done so far… Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

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Lina sat at a table, peacefully sipping a cup of iced tea. She had finally gotten some time to relax by herself. After her little 'incident' from the other day, the others had wisely decided to leave her alone for a while. Adara, however, didn't seem to get the hint. Lina peered over her shoulder and frowned. The strange girl was still sitting a few tables back, staring at her. 

On the far side of the restaurant sat the rest of the group. 

"That girl sure knows the fastest way to get blown up." Zel said to no one in particular. 

Amelia sighed in agreement. "If she's not careful, she could get this whole town destroyed!" Lina then stood up and started walking towards their table. "Uh oh! Here she comes…" Amelia whispered. 

Gourry dove under the table while Zel just shook his head. 

Once Lina reached them, Xellos smiled and cheerfully greeted her. "Hello Lina! I see you've finally decided to join us!" 

"Not quite…" She grabbed the unsuspecting Mazoku and pulled him towards Adara. "I need you to be a distraction while I get away from her." They were almost at the table so Lina lowered her voice to a whisper. "Just make sure she stays here, got it?" 

Then Adara interrupted. "Miss Inverse! I've been meaning to talk to you. I…" 

"Well, I don't have time to talk right now. But I'm sure Xellos glare can answer your questions for now."

"Uh ok." Adara answered uncertainly. But Lina had already gone back towards the other table. She grabbed Gourry and rushed out the door. 

Xellos sat down across from the young sorceress. "So Miss Adara, I hope this meeting can be more pleasant than the last." 

Adara laughed nervously. "Oh, sorry about that! I was just startled. How did you do that anyway?" 

"That… well, that's a long story… Besides, we aren't here to talk about me." 

"Oh right! So, tell me everything about Lina!" 

"Everything?" the Mazoku asked mysteriously. 

On the other side of the restaurant, Amelia and Zel found themselves alone at the table. They sat there for a while in an awkward silence until one of them decided to start a conversation. 

"So, Mr. Zelgadis, how's your hotpot?" Amelia asked nervously. 

Zel looked up. "Huh? Oh, it's fine." He then paused and added, "You can finish it if you want. I'm not really hungry." 

Amelia blushed. "Are you sure? Well, ok, if you really don't want it…" Zel pushed his plate over towards Amelia in response. 

Silence settled over the table again. Then Zel decided he should probably say something. "I wonder where Lina ran off to… She's been acting rather strange lately." 

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I wonder why she dragged Gourry along with her… I would have thought she'd want some time alone. Especially after the way Adara's been following her around." 

Zel glanced over to where the girl was still talking to Xellos. "Speaking of Adara, I can't help but wonder what Xellos is telling her about Lina…" 

"Really!" Adara asked incredulously. "Lina did THAT!" 

Xellos laughed at the young sorceress' reaction. "Well, more or less… But let's just keep this conversation between ourselves. It'll be our little secret, ok?" 

She was slightly confused but agreed. "Ok. Sure." 

Meanwhile, Lina had managed to drag Gourry all the way to the edge of the woods. But once there, she had to stop to catch her breath. All the while she continually glanced over her shoulder to make sure Adara hadn't managed to follow her. Luckily, she was nowhere in sight. Lina then turned her attention to Gourry. He was sitting on the ground where she had dumped him. One of his usual expressions of confusion was on his face. 

"Lina, what are we doing all the way out here? You made us leave all that food back there!" 

_"Oh right! I totally forgot about the food!" Well, there was nothing she could do about that now. There was no way she was going back there! Not yet anyway… "Don't worry about it Gourry. We can get some more food later." Lina then started walking into the forest. _

Gourry slowly stood up and walked after her. "Uh, where are we going?" 

"Nowhere really. I just felt like taking a walk." 

"Oh. Then why did you bring me along?" 

Lina didn't answer right away. She actually wasn't really sure why she had brought him along. It just seemed like the thing to do at the time. 

Luckily, Gourry seemed to have forgotten about the question. He was now preoccupied with trying to disentangle himself from a tree branch that was caught on his shirt. Lina sighed and went to help him. As she reached over to unhook the branch, their hands touched briefly. Lina suddenly found herself blushing. She cautiously looked up to see Gourry's reaction. Their eyes met for a mere second and then… 

Whack! Lina quickly hit Gourry over the head and then turned around to start walking again. _"I can't believe I just did that!" _she scolded herself. She barely managed to restrain from looking behind her. 

Suddenly, Lina found herself falling face first to the ground. She slowly picked herself up and looked to see what she had tripped over. In the middle of the forest path, almost completely covered with dirt, was a small metal box. After retrieving the ornately decorated box from the earth, Lina slowly pried it open. Gourry peered over her shoulder so he could see too. 

The only object inside the box was a neatly folded piece of paper. Lina slowly opened the paper so she wouldn't rip it. But as soon as she saw what was written, she screamed. "It just had to be in some ancient language, didn't it!?!" 

Gourry took the slip of paper from the raving sorceress. He then tried looking at it from all different angles. Finally, he reached his conclusion. "Yup, it's definitely in some other language." 

After thinking about what he had just said, he realized it was too late… He quickly covered his head as he waited for Lina to do something. When nothing happened, Gourry slowly looked around. Lina wasn't anywhere to be found. "Uh, Lina? Where'd you go?" 

Gourry decided he'd wait there for a while and see if she'd come back. 

Some distance away, Lina finally stopped running and paused to catch her breath. She leaned back against an old tree and closed her eyes. "_What's wrong with me?_" she thought. "_Why did that stupid note make me so mad?_" However, deep down inside, she realized that it hadn't been the note. "_No, it wasn't that…_" she argued with herself, realizing the true reason for her anger. "_I don't even like him like that. We're just friends… That's all!_" Frustrated, Lina slowly sat down, deep in thought… 

Dusk soon settled over the quiet town. One by one, the stores closed for the night. As the last golden ray of daylight disappeared from the sky, only one business remained open… 

"Aren't they ever going to leave?" the restaurant owner mumbled to himself as he glanced at the only remaining customers: a certain young princess, a fire sorceress, a gloomy chimera, and a mysterious priest. 

Amelia took another sip at her drink and then glanced at the door for what seemed like the thousandth time. "Where are Miss Lina and Mr. Gourry? I hope they didn't get lost." 

Before Zel could respond, however, Gourry suddenly appeared in the doorway. "Mr. Gourry! There you are!" exclaimed Amelia as she ran over to him. Then she noticed that someone was missing. "But where's Miss Lina?" 

Gourry then told the others how they had found the box and then about how Lina had suddenly run off. 

"But that was three hours ago!" Zel said in amazement. "Why didn't you tell us this sooner?" 

"Uh, well… I waited to see if she would come back. And then, when she didn't, I decided I should come back here and tell you guys. But I kind of took a few wrong turns…" 

Zel just sighed. "Alright, I guess we should go look for her then. Even though she'll probably be mad at us, she could be in trouble." He turned to Gourry. "Ok, do you think you could show us where you last saw her?" "_Or is that too much to ask…_" He thought the last part to himself… 

To the delight of the restaurant owner, the strange group finally left. 

By the time Gourry managed to lead them back, it was already completely dark out. Zelgadis' lighting spell cast eerie shadows over the trees. Adara and Amelia were both on the verge of screaming. 

Xellos, on the other hand, was on the verge of laughter… He then had a devious idea. Slowly, he crept around behind the two frightened girls. And then he screamed as loud as he could. 

The reaction wasn't quite what he was expecting. Amelia and Adara both shrieked. However, they then turned and each threw a fireball at him. Xel fell to the ground, covered in ash. "Maybe that wasn't such a good idea," he groaned. 

Zelgadis smirked at Xellos' predicament and then turned back to the task at hand. "Well, Lina obviously isn't here. I suggest…" 

But Zel never did get to finish his sentence. The two girls screamed again and pointed in Zel's direction. "What did I do?!" But then he realized they were pointing to something behind him. The chimera slowly turned, preparing himself for some hideous monster. 

The 'hideous monster' turned out to be one missing red haired sorceress. In a flat, angry tone, she said "Why do you have to scream so loud! Can't a girl get any sleep around here!" 

Everyone sweat dropped in unison. 

Lina then calmed down a little. "Look, let's just get back to town. I'm sure we'll all be better in the morning." 

The group silently agreed. They then began walking back the way they had come. Lina glanced at Xellos curiously, but decided it was better not to ask… 


	3. Shrine Maidens & Orange Umbrellas

Title: Slayers Gateway: Discovery 

By: Slayersgrl (slayersgrl@yahoo.com)  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Slayers… just borrowing them…

A/N: This is the first in a trilogy I'm working on. Only the first part, Discovery, is done so far… Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

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The next morning did not start out exactly as Lina had hoped. Somehow, completely overnight, heavy dark clouds had formed in the sky. The sun was barely visible: only a few rays of light were able to pierce through the thick layer of clouds. 

The dreary atmosphere seemed to suit Lina perfectly. She was still in her bad mood from yesterday as she came down the stairs to get some breakfast. Amelia, Zelgadis, Gourry, and Xellos were already seated at a table. Adara was nowhere to be seen. 

After ordering her meal, Lina just sat in silence while the others stared at her curiously. Then, all of a sudden, her head fell to the table. "Ahhhh! I just realized something!" she screamed far too loudly for that hour of the morning. "I'm acting like Zelgadis!" 

Insulted, Zel replied, "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" 

A loud crash of thunder was heard as the first raindrops hit the roof of the inn. About 30 seconds later, a figure rocketed down the stairs, red pigtails flowing out behind. It stopped right in front of the group's table. "It's… It's raining!" Adara whimpered softly. 

"Oh! Are you afraid of the thunder?" Amelia asked, trying to calm the frightened girl down. 

"N…n…no. I'm scared of the rain!" 

Amelia was confused. "The rain? Well, try to calm down. I'm sure the storm will end soon." But Adara refused to relax. So Amelia tried to cast an Enhance Calm spell on her. "It's not working!" 

Lina sighed. She slowly stood up and put her hand on Adara's shoulder. The girl instantly collapsed on the ground. 

"Lina! What did you do?!" Zel exclaimed. 

"Relax! She's only sleeping…" 

"That wasn't very polite Miss Lina!" Amelia scolded as she started to take the sleeping sorceress back to her room. "You could have at least warned me." 

Lina just shrugged her shoulders as her breakfast arrived. She hungrily began eating and was done in record time. She leaned back and patted her now full stomach. "Mmmm! That was good! I feel so much better now." 

"Now that you're done eating, maybe we can talk about that note you found yesterday." Zel suggested. 

"Oh yeah. I almost forgot about that!" Lina reached into her pocket to pull out the note when she remembered that she didn't have it. "Gourry? You have the note, right?" 

Gourry looked at her with a blank stare. "What note?" 

Lina's head hit the table for the second time that morning. "The note we found yesterday! In the box! Do you remember now?" 

The swordsman scratched his head as he thought for a moment. He then pulled out a familiar folded piece of paper from his pocket. "Do you mean this?" 

Lina grabbed it from him as she replied "Yeah… that's the one…" She then turned to Zelgadis to have a more 'intellectual' conversation. "So, do you have any idea what it says?" 

Zel took the paper from Lina's outstretched hand. After studying it for a minute or so, he shook his head. "Nope, I'm afraid not. It's not any language I've ever seen." 

Xellos decided it was his turn. He snatched the paper out of Zel's hand. 

"Xellos! Who said you could have it!" Zel yelled as he tried to retrieve the stolen paper. 

"Hmmm… very interesting…" the Mazoku muttered as he kept the note just out of Zelgadis' reach. 

"What! You mean you know what it says?!" Lina asked incredulously. 

Xellos looked over at her. "Oh, no. I have no idea what it says. But I do know who could tell us." At that moment he let the note slip through his hands and it slowly floated to the ground. Zelgadis reached out to grab it and tripped over Xellos' strategically placed foot. 

Lina ignored Zel for the moment and turned to Xellos. "Who?!" 

"Why a shrine maiden of course." 

"What!?!" Lina and Zel exclaimed in unison. 

Gourry suddenly decided to voice his thoughts. "A shrine maiden? Hey Lina! Do we know one of those?" 

Through clenched teeth, Lina managed to reply. "Yes Gourry. We do know a shrine maiden. Remember Sylphiel?" 

A light bulb seemed to go off in Gourry's head. "Oh yeah! Sylphiel! She's a great cook you know!" 

Lina just groaned. 

Zel, having now gotten up off the floor, thought about this latest piece of information. "But do we really want to go all the way to Sairaag just to find out what some piece of paper says? What if it's just some ancient grocery list? I for one don't want to waste six days just to find that out." 

Nodding in agreement, Lina thought about what else they could do. "There has to be someone closer. Where's the next closest shrine?" 

Zel pulled out a map and laid it on the table. He pointed to a location that didn't look too far from where they were now. "There. But it's still a three-day walk." 

"Well, that looks like our best option for now." Lina then noticed that the rain had stopped. "I guess we'd better go wake up Adara so we can get going. The sooner we leave the sooner we can know what this note says." 

Zel looked over at Lina with a hint of a smile on his face. "So now she's coming with us? I thought you hated her." 

"Well, you never know… She might come in handy one of these days!" Lina grinned as she made her way for the stairs. "_Maybe today wasn't going to be so bad after all._"

Lina lazily stretched her arms over her head. They had been on the road for several hours and nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Lina was trying not to notice Gourry so as to not have any more unusual feelings. Zel was trying not to notice how Amelia was constantly glancing over at him. And Xellos was trying not to fall over laughing. Lina knew that if she glanced behind Xellos she wouldn't be able to hold in her laughter any longer. 

Walking in the rear of the group was poor Adara. She was continuously glancing up at the sky looking for any sign of rain. Over her head she held a small, bright orange umbrella with tiny little dragons decorating it. Where she had managed to find that, only L-sama knew… 

"Miss Inverse?" came a small voice from the rear. "Are you sure it isn't going to rain again?" 

Lina had to quickly put her hand over her mouth before Adara heard her laughing. After composing herself, and without turning around, she was able to reply. "Yes, for the hundredth time, I'm absolutely positively sure it isn't going to rain again." "_Of course… I'm not a weather expert or anything…" she thought. Then out loud she added, "And I already told you, it's Lina, not Miss Inverse." _

"Oh, ok Miss… I mean, Lina." After a few minutes, the quiet voice spoke up again. "Um, where exactly are we going?" 

"We're going to the nearest shrine to find a shrine maiden." 

"Why?" 

"So we can get a letter that we found translated." 

Adara stopped. "Well, why didn't you say so sooner. Can I look at the letter?" 

Lina pulled out the letter and turned to give it to the other girl. As she turned and saw the orange umbrella, she quickly clamped her mouth shut. This made her have a really odd expression on her face. 

Adara looked at her strangely. "Uh, Lina, are you ok?" 

Lina just nodded her head yes. She didn't trust herself to say anything. She motioned for Adara to quickly take the letter. While she studied it, Lina distracted herself by trying to count how many blades of grass were on the side of the road… 

Suddenly, Adara began mumbling to herself. "This doesn't make any sense… It's a very old language… but the paper is new… It's a list… but it doesn't look like any list I've ever seen…" 

"What! It's a list!" Lina exclaimed. "Zel was right! I'm glad we didn't go all the way to Sairaag then…" 

The others turned and stared at Adara. "How were you able to read that?" Zel asked. 

"Uh… It's a long story…" she replied. "One that can be told some other time. But first I need to know what you found this in." 

From wherever she keeps those huge bags of gold, Lina managed to pull out the box that she had tripped over earlier. She then handed it to the girl. 

After looking over it, Adara finally found what she was looking for. On the bottom was an inscription. "Look, right here. It's directions of some sort… I think that if we go to where ever this place says, we can find out what this list is for." 

Lina glanced over at Zel and winked. "See, I knew she'd come in handy!" 


	4. Time to Split Up

Title: Slayers Gateway: Discovery 

By: Slayersgrl (slayersgrl@yahoo.com)  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Slayers… just borrowing them…

A/N: This is the first in a trilogy I'm working on. Only the first part, Discovery, is done so far… Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

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The directions on the bottom of the box had told the group of adventurers to head north, towards the Kataart Mountain Range. It was about a two-day walk, but at least now they knew they were going in the right direction.

After finding out their new destination, nothing else eventful happened. Shortly after nightfall, the group came to a small town and checked into the local inn. As always, their first order of business was to get a good meal to eat. 

When their order finally arrived, Lina and Gourry immediately started eating before anyone else had the chance. Zel, Amelia, and Xellos were used to this rude behavior by now and thought nothing of it. They just grabbed their food before the other two ate it. Adara, on the other hand, stared at the chaos in utter confusion. 

Xellos was the first to notice her startled look. "Is something wrong?" he asked with a smile. 

The girl slowly clenched her fists as her bewildered expression soon turned to one of anger. Then, she exploded on her unsuspecting companions. "I can't believe you! How can eat like that when there are starving children in the world! Don't you have any compassion! Not to mention the fact that you're eating poor defenseless animals! How would you like it if someone locked you up in a cage and fattened you up just so they could kill you for someone's meal!" As Adara paused to take a breath, she noticed several blank expressions staring back at her. "Uh… I guess I kind of went a little overboard…" 

"A LITTLE?!" Lina yelled, now getting the attention of the entire restaurant. Gourry quickly pushed her back into her chair, trying to keep her from attacking the girl across the table. 

Amelia, trying to be the good diplomatic princess she was, decided it was time to change the subject. "So, Adara, why don't you tell us how you were able to read that letter earlier today?" 

The girl turned and gave Amelia a grateful look. She then began her story. "Well, I wasn't always a fire sorceress. I used to live in Elmekia with my parents. Ever since I was a young child, they were constantly encouraging me to be a shrine maiden. So, I was trained in white magic." 

"But I quickly grew tired of everyone always telling me what to do. So one night I packed a few things and left. Shortly after leaving, I heard a story about a bandit killer named Lina Inverse. It was then that I made it my goal to meet her." Adara smiled as she finished her story. "That was 3 years ago. And I haven't been back to Elmekia since." 

Amelia was the first to speak. "So I'm guessing you must know a lot of white magic spells then." 

Adara smiled. "Yeah, you could say that…" She then felt like it was her turn to change the subject. "What do you think we'll find in the mountains?" 

Lina stopped chewing her food for a second and thought about the question. "Personally, I have no clue. But I hope it's some ancient lost treasure!" 

After dinner, everyone went to his or her respective rooms, ready for a good nights sleep! As she was opening her door to her room, Lina noticed Gourry entering his own room down the hall. She blushed a little as she thought about their encounter from the other day. Luckily, Gourry didn't notice her. Lina quietly waited until Gourry had disappeared into his room before she entered her own. After shutting the door, she leaned back against it, shutting her eyes. "_Lina_, what are you getting yourself into?_" she asked herself. Lina stood in silence for a few minutes before crawling into bed, completely exhausted. _

The sun rose bright and early the next morning. Lina felt the warmth as the rays shone in through her window. But she wasn't quite ready to get up yet… So she pulled the blanket over her head and drifted off into sleep again. 

A soft knock was heard on her door. However, the sleeping sorceress didn't hear it. Then the door slowly crept open and in peeked a small head. "Miss Lina?" Amelia whispered. When she got no response, she decided to enter the room. 

Amelia quietly tiptoed across the cold floor. She didn't want Miss Lina to be mad at her for waking her up. "_Why do **I have to do this?**_" the young princess thought to herself as she made her way towards Lina's bed. She thought back to the scene a few minutes ago… 

~~~~~~~~ 

It had all started with a very simple question from Gourry. "Hey, does anyone know where Lina is? She's missing breakfast!" 

Zel sighed in frustration. "Don't tell me she's oversleeping again!!" The rest of his comment was muttered to himself. 

Amelia, not quite realizing what she was saying, had stupidly added, "Someone should go wake her up." After hearing silence, Amelia looked up from her breakfast and noticed all of the others looking at her strangely. She suddenly gasped and dropped her fork. "What? Me! No way!" 

"Come on Amelia!" Adara said with a sly smile. "I'd do it, but you know she hates me…" 

Realizing her defeat by the expressions of the others, she resigned herself to her fate and slowly walked up stairs. 

~~~~~~~~ 

Amelia had now reached the left side of Lina's bed. She reached down to shake the sleeping girl's shoulder when she realized something. She quickly cast a protection spell and then proceeded to shake Lina. "Miss Lina? Time to wake up!" 

Lina just mumbled something under the covers and rolled over. Amelia then decided to try again, only a little louder. "MISS LINA!" she screamed, right in Lina's ear… 

Downstairs, the quiet restaurant felt the building shake violently for a few seconds and then settle. "I'm assuming Lina's up." Xellos remarked. 

A minute later, an angry, fuming sorceress ran down the stairs chasing a slightly burnt princess. "But it wasn't my fault!! They made me do it!!" Amelia shouted in sheer terror. She dove under the table and tried to hide. 

Lina slid to a stop and glared at the others (especially Adara). From her tense stance, they could see that she was only getting angrier. 

Zel bent down and whispered something in Amelia's ear. She nodded and then discreetly crawled out from underneath. She quickly put her hand on Lina's shoulder and cast an Enhance Calm spell. 

Lina's expression went from furious to completely tranquil in about 2 seconds. She calmly slid into the empty chair beside her, a goofy grin plastered on her face. "Such a beautiful day, isn't it?" she asked no one in particular. 

Sitting directly opposite Lina, Adara could barely restrain her laughter. She suddenly fell off the chair, giggling hysterically. "I… think… you… over… did… it!!" was all she managed to say. 

For the next 15 minutes, Lina continued to stare off into space peacefully. Amelia was a little worried. "Should I… do something?" 

"Don't worry about it. The spell should wear off eventually." Xellos was totally enjoying this moment. 

Gourry had been staring at Lina while she just sat there. He slowly stretched out and reached for the untouched food on the plate in front of her. He was just inches away from grabbing a sausage when a small hand grabbed his fork. "Nice try Gourry." Lina smiled as she shoved Gourry back into his seat. "But this is my food!" She then began eating with her normal ferocious appetite. 

The blonde swordsman whimpered slightly. "I was **so close!" **

With Lina now somewhat back to normal – at least, what passed as normal for her… -- the group was able to continue on their way. Lina led the group, skipping along merrily and humming an upbeat tune. She was still experiencing a few of the side affects of Amelia's spell… 

Gourry was walking cautiously behind Lina. He wasn't quite sure which way he liked her better… 

Following the two in the front came Zelgadis and Amelia. Amelia had decided the safest place to be right now was behind Zel. She wasn't sure if Lina would turn on her anytime soon. Zel, on the other hand, was silently cursing fate for getting him mixed up with his current traveling companions. 

Adara and Xellos brought up the rear. Xellos was smiling his usual smile as he watched everyone else. Adara was busy looking around for any sign of rain. She had her umbrella ready just in case some freak storm should appear. 

"Uh, Adara…" Xellos suddenly spoke up. 

"What?" She turned her head as she spoke, slightly annoyed at being distracted. But before she got an answer, she felt herself hit something solid. She fell over backwards, stunned from the impact. As Adara rubbed her sore head, she slowly looked to see what the obstruction was. It was a large signpost. 

On the top of the old wooden post were three arrows, each pointing in different directions. "So, which way do we go?" Zel asked. 

Adara looked at the arrows carefully. "Well, there's no way to know for sure. I think we're gonna have to split up." 

Lina decided this would be a good time to join the conversation. "Ok then! Amelia, you and I will go right. Zel and Gourry will go left. And, uh, Adara and Xel, you can go straight. We'll meet back here later. Agreed? Ok, good!" Not waiting for any objections, the hyper sorceress grabbed Amelia and ran off to the right. 

"Mr. Zelgadis! Help me…" Amelia called out, her voice trailing off at the end. 

"_That is the** last time I let Amelia cast that spell on Lina!**_" Zel thought to himself. Then he started off down the path to the left, not looking back to see if Gourry was following. 

Gourry looked right and then left and then right again. He didn't know what to say. So he just ran off after Zel, hoping Lina knew what she was doing. 

Adara sweat dropped and then started walking. After she was a little bit ahead of Xellos, she blushed slightly. "_I hope I don't do anything stupid!_" 


	5. Spooky Doorways & Yellow Ducks

Title: Slayers Gateway: Discovery 

By: Slayersgrl (slayersgrl@yahoo.com)  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Slayers… just borrowing them…

A/N: This is the first in a trilogy I'm working on. Only the first part, Discovery, is done so far… Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Lina stopped running after she was out of range of the others. She let go of her grip on Amelia and resumed her skipping. Amelia followed behind, walking fast to keep up. 

When Amelia had heard Lina's happy tune one too many times, she decided it was up to her to start a conversation. "Uh, Miss Lina?" No violent explosion. That was a good sign. "Why did you want me to go with you?" she hesitated and then continued. "You aren't planning to get me back for this morning, are you?" 

The humming stopped, but the skipping continued. "Oh, you're still worried about this morning? Don't be! I had to get up eventually anyway." Then the skipping stopped and Lina slowed to a casual walk. "Actually, the reason why I wanted you to come with me was because I…" 

"Because what?" 

"I… needed to… ask you something…" Lina glanced at the ground as she waited for the other girl's reply. 

Amelia perked up. "Wow Miss Lina! You actually want my advice! Ok, ask me anything." 

"Well…" Lina blushed slightly at the thought of what she was about to ask. "What do you think of Gourry?" 

She was confused. "Mr. Gourry?" She scratched the back of head while she thought for a moment. "Well, he seems really nice and caring. And he's a great swordsman." Then something clicked. "Oh! You mean…" 

Lina half smiled. "Uh…yeah…" 

Amelia grabbed Lina's hands and swung her around in a big circle. "Go for it! You two would be perfect for each other!" She stopped abruptly and her eyes lit up. "I know! You can have the wedding at the palace! It'll be so perfect! I'll plan everything!" 

"Whoa! Slow down Amelia! Who said anything about weddings?!?" But the princess was already rambling on. "_I think I just made a big mistake…" _

As the sun was setting, Lina and Amelia saw a building ahead. By now, they didn't really care what building it was; they just wanted someplace nice and warm to stay for the night. But as they neared it, the two girls felt a little weird… 

"Miss Lina!" Amelia exclaimed. "It's so creepy! Maybe we should keep going…" 

"Are you nuts? What if what we're looking for is in there?" Lina then dragged Amelia with her to the entrance of the creepy building. 

The whole structure looked to be extremely old. Vines snaked up and down the stone walls and cracks were clearly visible. The door itself was even more frightening. It was the only part made out of wood. In the center was an old-fashioned doorknocker. 

Lina cautiously reached for the doorknocker, with Amelia trembling beside her. After letting it knock twice, she stepped back and held her breath, waiting for something to happen. 

When nothing did, she and Amelia sighed in relief. "Well, I guess we should just go in." Lina said as she took another step backwards. 

Amelia was confused. "What? Miss Lina? Where are you going?" 

The other sorceress smiled slyly and pushed Amelia towards the door. "Why don't **you** open it Amelia?" 

"M…m…me?" she stuttered. Then she turned and reluctantly reached for the door handle. With trembling hands, she managed to open it. Then she and Lina ran in before they changed their minds. 

After a lighting spell from Lina, they were able to see that they were in a small dark room. There was nothing in the room except for some cobwebs. On the opposite wall, however, was another door. 

"Not another one!" Lina mumbled. Then she felt herself being pushed lightly forward. She turned to see Amelia behind her. 

"It's your turn!" was all the princess said. 

Lina whined and then turned toward the new door. She took a deep breath and tried to convince herself that there was nothing to be scared of. She was able to convince herself for about the 10 seconds it took to reach out and fling the door open. 

Amelia and Lina screamed in unison. 

There was nothing there. 

The two girls sweat dropped in unison. Then Lina whacked Amelia over the head. "See, there was nothing to be afraid of!" 

"Huh?" Amelia asked as she rubbed the bump on her head. 

Then Lina added, "But, just to be on the safe side…" And she shoved Amelia through the open doorway. 

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Amelia's scream echoed through the surrounding area. 

Meanwhile, Zelgadis and Gourry had been traveling silently in the opposite direction. Zel was deep in thought about some of the recent events that had occurred. Gourry, on the other hand, was just following along behind. 

Suddenly, Zel's thoughts were interrupted by a voice behind him. "Hey Zel. Why do you think Lina's been acting so weird lately?" Gourry asked. "Maybe it's that time of the month…" 

Zel sweat dropped in annoyance. "I don't know. Maybe you should ask her." Then he thought about something. "What I want to know is why she put you and me together. I would have thought I would have been stuck with Miss Sunshine again." "_Not that I'm complaining…_" 

Before Gourry could think of anything to say in response, Zel suddenly disappeared from view. Gourry quickly ran to where he had been standing a few moments before. He saw that the ground had collapsed, leaving a darkened opening below. "Oh well." Gourry thought as he jumped in after Zel. 

He fell through the darkness and suddenly landed on a rocky surface. "Zel? Where are you?" he called out, trying to see through the darkness. 

Gourry heard a muffled voice say, "Down here!" He looked down and saw him sitting on a familiar cape… After quickly standing up, Gourry reached down and helped Zel up. 

After he was able to stand up straight, Zel cast a lighting spell so they could see where they were. They appeared to be standing in a natural underground cavern. "Well, I guess we'd better look around since we're down here." 

As the lighting spell cast shadows around the cavern, Zel noticed something on the wall to the right. As he walked closer, he noticed it was a door. Gourry noticed the door too and walked over to open it. But it wouldn't budge. He backed up and charged at the door. Gourry found himself flying in the other direction, with the door still in it's original position. 

As Gourry stared at the door, scratching his head in thought, Zel just sighed. He prepared a fireball spell to blast the door open. However, before he could finish the spell, Gourry had pulled out his Sword of Light. With one fluid motion, the door fell to the ground in two pieces. Gourry smiled at his accomplishment and then stepped through the doorway. 

"Gourry! Wait!" Zel called out. "What if it's a trap!" 

It was too late for that… As soon as the swordsman was in the next room, he felt something attack him from the side. In his surprise, the sword had slipped from his hand. Gourry quickly reached for it and brought it around to face his unknown assailant. 

His assailant appeared to be a giant yellow duck. "Huh? What is that?" Gourry asked Zel, who was now standing just inside the doorway. 

"Beats me," the chimera replied, scanning the dark room. Then he cast another lighting spell… and was amazed at what he saw. "Well, whatever they are, there sure are a lot of them…" 

The entire room was filled with the strange things. It was so crowded that they were practically on top of each other. In the middle of the room was a large stone table. On top of the table sat the largest yellow duck of them all. 

Zel sweat dropped. "Let me guess… That one over there is their leader." He pointed towards the center of the room. 

The other ducks apparently viewed his gesture as a threat. Zel soon found himself covered in strange yellow ducks. The sound of quacking filled the cavern, creating an almost deafening echo. "Gourry! Do something!" 

"What Zel? I can't hear you!" Gourry called back. Then he gave up and started attacking the ducks himself. As he raised his sword to attack, he suddenly felt very weird. One of the ducks was staring at him intently. And then the duck started to glow an eerie yellow! As Gourry continued to stare into the creature's eyes, he began to feel very tired. He slowly lowered the Sword of Light until it slipped out of his hands and fell to the floor. 

Zel was still struggling with the ducks on top of him. He managed to shove enough off of him so he could cast a spell. "Elmekia Lance!" All the ducks surrounding him were caught in the blast and disintegrated. 

"Looks like we're dealing with low grade demons!" Zel called out to Gourry. When he got no response, he looked over and saw him about ready to fall asleep. Zel had an idea of what was going on. He decided he'd better try another spell. "Ra tilt!" 

This time, all of the ducks were caught in the spell. They quickly disintegrated; all except the big one in the middle. "What?!? Why didn't it work?" exclaimed Zel in disbelief. 

Now that the other ducks were gone, Gourry snapped out of his trance. "What's going on?" he asked. He then noticed that all of the ducks were gone except the leader. 

Zel and Gourry stood ready, waiting to see what the large yellow duck would do… 

On the third path, Adara and Xellos had been traveling silently. Several times, Adara almost got enough nerve to start a conversation but she always stopped herself before she said anything. And Xellos didn't particularly care whether they were having a conversation or not.

Fortunately, they didn't have to walk far before they found something. That something turned out to be a lake. 

"AHHHHHHH!" Adara screamed as she saw all the water. "W…w…water? Why did it have to be that?" she asked Xellos as she clung to his cape. Then she realized what she was doing and stepped away quickly, blushing a bright shade of red. 

Xel just ignored the girl and looked towards the lake.  "Hmmm…" he said thoughtfully.  Then he took a few steps forward.  But suddenly he ran into something hard and fell over backwards. 

"Oh! Are you ok?" Adara asked. She stayed where she was though in fear of the lake… 

Xellos smiled in response. "Oh, don't worry about me!" He then turned his attention back towards the lake and the mysterious wall. He reached out his hand until he hit something solid. "There's seems to be an invisible wall protecting the area." Turning to Adara, he added, "Why don't you try to go through?" 

"Me?" she asked. "Why would it work for me and not you?" 

"Um… maybe only girls can enter…" Xellos lied. 

Adara refused to move. "I'm not going anywhere near that!" But Xellos just teleported behind her and shoved her towards the invisible barrier. 

"Good luck!" he called out. 

The young sorceress screamed as she was shoved closer to the water. But instead of hitting the barrier as she had expected, she found herself falling face first to the ground. Adara slowly lifted her head and saw where she was. She screamed, stood up, and ran the other way. 

She ran right into the barrier. "Help! I can't get out!" 

Xellos just smiled at her. "While you're in there, go look for whatever it is we're supposed to be looking for." 

Realizing she wasn't going to get any help from the mysterious priest, Adara took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. Then she made her way around the lake, keeping one hand firmly pressed against the barrier… 


	6. New Treasures

Title: Slayers Gateway: Discovery 

By: Slayersgrl (slayersgrl@yahoo.com)  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Slayers… just borrowing them…

A/N: This is the first in a trilogy I'm working on. Only the first part, Discovery, is done so far… Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Amelia screamed as she was shoved through the doorway. She felt herself falling and instinctively cast a levitation spell. However, this just made it so she was floating in total darkness. 

"Miss Lina?" she called out hesitantly. 

"You ok Amelia?" asked the familiar voice. 

"No I'm not ok!" she shouted back. "Miss Lina! You're so mean!!" 

Lina sighed and cast a lighting spell. Then she sent it through the doorway to Amelia. Amelia watched as the small ball of light floated down past her. When it hit the floor, it exploded in a burst of light, illuminating the surrounding area. Lina then floated down next to Amelia. 

She smiled. "See, nothing bad happened to you." 

"That's not the point!!" But Lina had already landed on the stone floor below. Amelia quickly landed beside her and looked around. 

The two girls appeared to be in an ancient temple. Unlit candles hung on the stone walls. There were several stone benches around the room, which were all coated in a thick layer of dust. In the center of the room was a large stone table. 

As Lina lit a few of the candles, Amelia walked towards the table. She noticed that there was an old book lying in the middle. "Miss Lina! Come here! I think I found something!" she said as she blew the dust off the cover. All the dust made her sneeze loudly and Amelia nearly dropped the old book. 

"Amelia! Be careful!" Lina scolded her as she quickly grabbed the book away from the other girl. The cover was too old to read clearly so Lina opened it up, hoping the rest of the book was still in tact. She gasped at what she read inside. 

Amelia was finally able to stop sneezing and looked over Lina's shoulder. "What does it say?" 

"Well, I can't read all of it but from what I understand, this book contains a very powerful spell. I'm just not exactly sure what it does…" She pauses as she reads a little more. "From what I can tell, it creates a doorway." 

"A doorway? But to where?" Amelia asked 

Lina shut the book. "How should I know?" She looked around one more time. "Well, I don't think we're going to find anything else down here. We should start heading back." 

The two then flew back up the way they had come, with Lina keeping a strong hold on the old book. 

Zel and Gourry were still in the underground cavern, trying to figure out what to do about the large yellow duck in the center of the room. 

As he held his sword ready, Gourry turned to Zel. "So, your big spirit thing didn't work?" 

Zel sighed. "_Won't he ever learn names?_" "No, Gourry, it didn't work." 

"Alright. It's my turn then." He paused and then shouted, "Light come forth!!" Instead of a metal blade, his sword was now made out of light. He then ran towards the large duck, raising his sword above his head. Right as Gourry was about to bring it down he felt himself flying backwards into the hard stone wall. 

"You alright Gourry?" Zel asked as he turned towards the now glowing yellow duck. 

Gourry rubbed his sore head. "Yeah, I'll be fine. But how did it do that?" 

Before Zel could answer, he found himself flying through the air towards the ceiling. He stopped just inches away from slamming into it. Then he fell all the way back down to the ground. 

The fall hadn't really hurt him because of his rocky skin. But now Zel was mad! "Fireball!" he shouted as a ball of hot flames flew from his hands. However, the duck just glowed again and the ball stopped inches in front of it. Then the ball extinguished itself in a small puff of smoke. 

Zel mumbled angrily to himself. He was about to try another spell when Gourry interrupted him. 

"Hey Zel! I've got an idea." Gourry quickly told him his plan. 

Surprised, Zel said, "You know, that might just work!" He turned back to the duck and cast another spell. "Gaav Flare!" 

The annoying duck was surrounded by fire. It simply glowed again and extinguished the flames. However, this time, there were so many flames that the room filled up with smoke. As some of it cleared, the duck suddenly saw a figure jumping towards it. But it was too late to defend itself. The figure swung the Sword of Light and the duck disintegrated like the others. 

Gourry landed on the ground behind where the duck had been. He then put away his sword and turned back towards Zel. As he did, he noticed something on the table. "What's this?" he asked as he reached for the large piece of paper. 

Zel walked over and looked at what Gourry now held in his hands. "It looks like a map." 

The map was actually in pretty good condition for being in a cave for so long. It was barely faded and only one corner was ripped. In the bottom left corner was a small note that read "You Are Here". 

"Hey, we can use this to get back to where we split up." Zel said. 

Now that they had a definite idea as to where they were going, Zel and Gourry decided to head back and see if the others had found anything yet. 

Adara mumbled curses under her breath as she slowly made her way along the barrier. She tried to keep her eyes looking out towards the fresh green grass, but every once in a while she had to turn and look towards the lake. So far, she hadn't seen anything but water… 

She suddenly noticed how dark it had gotten. As she looked up at the spectacular sunset, she heard a voice behind her. 

"There you are! I was wondering when you were coming back! Did you find anything!" 

Startled, Adara was about to throw a fireball at Xellos when she remembered the barrier. "Don't do that!!" She paused and tried to calm herself down. "No, I didn't find anything!! And what have you been doing this whole time?" 

Xellos smiled at her. "Oh, just running some errands…" 

"Errands?!? Out here?" she yelled in response. Adara then sighed. "Look, I'm in a really bad mood right now and I would like to get out of here as soon as possible!" 

"Well, I don't think you can… at least, not until you find what it is that we need." 

"WHAT!?! But I looked everywhere and it's not here!" 

Xellos pointed behind her. "Not quite everywhere…" 

Adara shook her head. "No way! There is no way I'm going in there!" 

"It's only a little water. It won't hurt you…" 

"But… but…" she whined. Then she realized she really had no other choice. 

Taking very little steps, she worked her way towards the edge of the lake. Once she was finally there, Adara reached down and tentatively stuck her hand in the water. "Ahhh!! It's cold!!" she shouted. 

She shivered slightly as she looked out over the calm surface of the water. Then, she took off her cape and boots.  "Well, I'd better get this over with…" After taking a deep breath, she jumped as far out into the lake as she could. 

As soon as she hit the icy cold water, Adara wanted to get back out! But she was already soaking wet… and besides, she had to find something that would get her out of the barrier!! 

The sorceress whined to herself for a minute and then took another deep breath. Then she dove under the water. She managed to open her eyes so she could see where she was going. As Adara was trying to see through the dark water, she felt something rub against her leg. She almost screamed but remembered she was underwater. As she turned, she saw it had only been a fish… 

"_I want to find this thing now!!_" As she was watching the fish swim away and contemplating what spell to blow it up with, she noticed something. On the ground not far from where she was swimming was a piece of metal. Adara swam down to it and found out it was a rusty old chest. 

She smiled with delight. "_This has to be it!_" However, as she realized this, she also realized that she was running out of air. Frantically, she reached for the chest. But she couldn't lift it!! "_What's in this thing anyway?_" 

Then Adara had an idea. Holding her right hand out towards the chest, she thought "_Windy Shield!_" A small barrier of wind surrounded the box and slowly began lifting it towards the surface. Adara quickly swam after it, relieved that she could now get out of the water. 

When she was finally out of the water, she laid out on the dry grass. But she was still soaking wet… 

After she was fully dressed again, she walked over to see what was in the chest. After the heavy box was set down on the ground, the shield disappeared. Adara then tried to pry open the lid. But it wouldn't open… The metal had been rusted shut… 

"AHHHHH! It just had to be stuck!!!!" she stopped her ranting and thought about how she could open it. "Well, I can't fireball it or anything because I don't know what's inside… but maybe…" She smiled and then recast her Windy shield spell. The chest then floated high above her head. 

Once she thought the box was high enough, Adara released her spell, sending the chest plummeting to the ground. Pieces of wood and metal were sent flying through the air. 

Then she was able to approach what was left of the chest. After digging through the remains for a few minutes, she finally found something. It was an old gold key. 

The overjoyed sorceress jumped up and down, clutching the newly found object to her chest. "This has to be it!! I know it!!" Then she ran straight for the barrier. 

Xellos was still standing in the same spot as when she had left him. Adara was too exited to wonder about what he could possibly have been doing while she was in the lake. 

Xellos, on the other hand, was just surprised to see the girl running right for him. "I see you've found something!" he called out. "But are you sure it's the right something…" 

The rapidly approaching girl faltered for a step or two, but then continued on her fast pace. "It has to be! I am not going back in that lake!!" And with her last remark, she hit the barrier… 

And passed through effortlessly. However, her speed hadn't changed and she ran right into the mysterious priest on the other side… 

When the two finally came to a stop, Adara found herself lying awkwardly on top of Xellos. She blushed furiously and quickly stood up. She quickly searched her mind for something to say. Settling on changing the subject, she held up the key. "See, I was right!" 

"Ah, so you were." Xellos replied. "Well, I guess we'd better go then." He turned and started back down the path. 

Adara quickly ran to catch up. Then she remembered something. "But I'm still soaking wet!!" she whined. 


	7. Promises

Title: Slayers Gateway: Discovery 

By: Slayersgrl (slayersgrl@yahoo.com)  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Slayers… just borrowing them…

A/N: This is the first in a trilogy I'm working on. Only the first part, Discovery, is done so far… Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Lina and Amelia were the first to reach the signpost. They both sat down and rested while they waited for the others. 

Lina was the first to break the silence. "So, Amelia, I've been meaning to ask you… I mean, if you don't mind…" 

"Sure, go ahead and ask me Miss Lina." 

"Well," she paused. "What about you and Zel. I mean I know you like him, (Amelia blushed), but what does Zel think?" 

Lina waited as Amelia thought of a response. "I, uh, I'm not sure… I never really asked him." Amelia then tried to change the subject. "But you never asked Gourry how he feels about you!" 

Surprised by the question, Lina immediately tried to defend herself. "Yeah, well… I've been waiting for the right time to ask…" However, as soon as the words were out of her mouth, she knew it was a pathetic excuse. 

"Alright, fine!" Amelia stood with a determined look on her face. She then offered her hand to Lina. "We'll make a deal right here and now. Before this adventure is over we will both tell them exactly how we feel. No matter the outcome!" 

Lina accepted the outstretched hand and stood up. "Alright, but under one condition. We can wait until Xellos and Adara aren't around." 

"Ok, it's a deal then!" The two then shook on it, already having doubts about whether they'll actually go through with it… 

Just as they finished their agreement, the others showed up. Zel and Gourry came from the left with Zel carrying a rolled up piece of paper. Xellos and Adara came from the third path with Adara still dripping wet but triumphantly holding something in her hand. Lina then remembered the strange book and reached down to pick it up from where it currently rested on the grass. 

As everyone reached the same spot, Lina was the first to say anything. "Hi everyone! Ok, what'd you find?" 

"What, no 'How are you doing? Have any trouble?'…" Zel remarked sarcastically. 

Lina just glared at him. "Fine, just for that, you have to go first!" 

"What?!" Zel was slightly annoyed about how Lina was treating this like show and tell, but he continued anyway. He kneeled down and spread the old map out carefully so everyone could see. "You don't even want to know what we had to go through to get this… Anyway, as you can see, it appears to be a map of the surrounding area." He paused and pointed to a location near the bottom left corner, slightly above the 'You are here' note. "I think we're right here." Zel then pointed to a different spot near the middle. "But we need to be over here." 

Lina smiled happily as she looked at the map. "Ok, now we know where to go! So, Xellos… Adara… what did you two find?" 

Xellos opened his mouth to respond but never got the chance. The dripping wet sorceress beside him replied first. "Well, you see, it was in this really big lake and it was surrounded by this strange barrier which only I could go through because I'm a girl and then Xellos made me jump in the lake and this big fish scared me but then I found a chest and when I smashed it open I found this key and then I could get out of the barrier!" 

Everyone sweat dropped as they just stood and stared at the girl for a second. "Ok…" Zel said to break the silence. "The only thing I understood was Xellos and key." 

"You found a key?" Amelia asked curiously. "Can I see?" She was then handed the slightly rusty gold key. 

Lina peered over Amelia's shoulder at the object for a moment and then decided it was her turn for 'Show and Tell'. "Ok, here's what Amelia and I found!" With a smile she held up the book. "It's in some ancient language but maybe Adara can read it." 

Then Lina turned to look at the other girl… and remembered that she was still soaking wet. "On second thought… maybe you should dry off first…" Lina gave Adara a sly look. Then she shifted the book over to her left hand and with her right cast a fireball. 

When the aftereffects of the spell cleared, Adara was covered in a thin layer of ash. But she was now perfectly dry! "That was mean!!" she yelled. As a form of retribution, the slightly charred sorceress snatched the book out of Lina's hands and hid behind Xellos. 

Xellos smiled, as he knew what Adara wanted him to do. He held out his staff and placed in front of Lina when she tried to retrieve the book. "You'll just have to be patient Lina." 

Lina groaned softly and then glared at Adara. "Well, hurry up already!!" 

The sorceress who she was now yelling at suddenly decided to yell back. "I can't just read it in two seconds and tell you what it says!! It's been a while since I've done this! So you'll just have to wait until I'm done!!" 

The two angry girls were now glaring strongly at each other with sparks flying between them. Fortunately, Gourry intervened. "Hey you two! Cut it out! We're not going to get anywhere if you keep trying to blow each other up." 

Zel agreed. "Yeah, we should start going already. We can find out what the book says on the way. Ok?" 

Lina and Adara angrily consented. "Fine!" they shouted in unison. 

Finally, they were on their way. Lina led the group, as usual. And Adara wisely trailed behind to avoid Lina's wrath. She also took this opportunity to start reading the book. 

The first few chapters were in a language unknown to her. When she was just about to throw down the book in frustration, Adara finally found a part she could read. 

She smiled excitedly and began the slow process of translating the ancient passages. 

Meanwhile, the group continued its journey. According to the map, they had to head east for a while and then turn north. 

Lina complained the whole time they were walking. Amelia tried her best to make her see the positive side, but she was beginning to run out of positive things to say… 

Zelgadis suddenly interrupted the two girls. "Uh, I think we have a problem…" he said as he casually pointed ahead. Everyone looked up and saw that their path was blocked by a group of tall mountains. 

Lina smiled. "No problem!" She pushed up her sleeves and then continued. "I can take them out in one shot!" 

Amelia then jumped in front of her. "Miss Lina! No! We don't know what's on the other side!" 

"Yeah, you might blow up where we're going." Gourry added with a laugh. 

"Well, you don't seriously expect us to go **over** that do you?!" 

Zel looked at Lina thoughtfully and then turned to look back at the mountains. "Maybe we don't have to go over them…" 

As everyone looked him with confused expressions, the chimera began to cast a spell. "Befis Bring!" A blast of energy shot out towards the side of the mountain and began tunneling through the rock. 

When the spell was done, a long winding tunnel now made its way through the base of the mountain. "Well, let's get going then." Zel called over his shoulder as he started towards the newly made path. 

Everyone else hurriedly ran to catch up. Soon they were all in the tunnel, the lighting spells casting eerie shadows off the rough edged rock. 

Amelia shivered involuntarily as she followed behind Zelgadis. "Mr. Zelgadis? Something doesn't seem right here…" 

Zel frowned. "You're right. But I can't seem to tell what's wrong." 

Just then they heard something behind them. Lina and the others turned around to see Adara rubbing her head with a confused expression. 

"Are you okay?" Gourry asked even though he wasn't exactly sure what was going on. 

"What?" the girl asked as she looked up at them. "Yeah, I'm fine. Something just hit me on the head." Then Adara reached down and picked up an object. She now held out her hand to reveal a small rock. "It must have fallen from the top of the tunnel." 

As she finished her sentence, a loud sound echoed through the tunnel. "What's making all that noise?!" Lina yelled as loud as she could to be heard over the deafening echo. 

"I suggest you run for it!" Xellos shouted back in reply. Then he disappeared. 

Looking down the dark tunnel, Lina could now see that the roof was caving in behind them. "Everybody run!" she screamed. After grabbing Adara's hand and pushing Gourry ahead of her, Lina began to run for the light at the other end of the passageway. Zel and Amelia weren't far behind. 

After what seemed like forever, they finally made it out of the tunnel. And it was just in time too. Right as Zel and Amelia emerged from the darkened tunnel, the last of the roof caved in, creating a large cloud of dust. 

When the dust cloud had cleared, and everyone had finished coughing, they were able to look around. 

They now stood in a huge valley. All sides where surrounded by the towering mountains. Winding through the middle of the valley was a small river. The riverbanks were covered in flowers of many types and colors. However, other than the beautiful plant life, there didn't seem to be any other living beings in the area. 

As the group walked up a small hill, they could now see over the young trees that had been blocking the rest of their view. They all gasped at what they saw. 

Right beside the river was what appeared to be an ancient temple. The stone walls had become dilapidated over time. A few of the columns surrounding the temple had fallen down, but overall the building was still in tact. 

Lina turned around to face the others, holding up a victory symbol. "Looks like we made it! Come on, let's go!" 

They all ran towards the temple, uncertain as to wait lay in store for them once they got there… 


	8. Memories from the Past

Title: Slayers Gateway: Discovery 

By: Slayersgrl (slayersgrl@yahoo.com)  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Slayers… just borrowing them…

A/N: This is the first in a trilogy I'm working on. Only the first part, Discovery, is done so far… Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Lina reached the entrance to the temple first. She waited for the others to get there and then turned to Gourry. "Alright, Gourry, go open the door." 

"What? Why me?" he asked. 

Lina began pushing him towards the door. "Well, I'm not doing it!" 

Zel sighed. "Fine. I'll do it." He then walked past where Lina and Gourry now stood and reached out to open the door. But it wouldn't open. Zel then pulled harder. No matter how hard he tried, it just wouldn't open. 

Then Lina, Gourry, and Amelia went to help him. Even with their combined strength, they couldn't get the door to move at all. 

Lina suddenly turned towards Xellos. "Hey, Xellos. Can't you just teleport yourself in there and open it from the inside?" 

The mysterious priest just smiled at her. "Now where would be the challenge in that?" 

While Lina was fuming over their current situation, Adara had been thinking about something. She then walked up to the door and examined it for a minute. "I thought so!" she exclaimed happily. 

"What are you talking about?" Zel asked, confused. 

Adara didn't reply but instead whispered a few words quietly as she held her hand over the door. Everyone heard a soft click and then the large doors swung open. 

Lina angrily stomped over to the happily smiling fire sorceress and glared at her. "How were you able to open it when we couldn't?" 

"Well, you see… It was locked. I just cast an unlock spell and it opened." 

Before Lina could reply, she found herself being flung over Gourry's shoulder and carried into the temple. "Come on Lina. Don't worry about it. At least we got in." Gourry said as Lina screamed at him to put her down. He finally did when they were about halfway down the large hallway that led from the entrance. 

Blushing slightly, Lina hurriedly tried to think of something to say. "Uh… Ok, now where do we go?" 

Zel pulled out the map. "The map ended once we got to the valley. It doesn't say anything about the temple." 

"What about the book we found Miss Lina?" Amelia asked. Then she realized that perhaps she shouldn't have mentioned it when Lina was still really mad at Adara. 

Zel realized Amelia's mistake and quickly clamped a hand over Lina's mouth. He then calmly turned to Adara and asked, "Have you been able to translate any of it yet?" 

Adara paused a moment. "Well… I've been able to read a small part of it. But it really makes no sense. And there's nothing in there about where we should be headed anyway." 

"This is just great!" Lina said in frustration. Then she angrily walked off until she reached the end of the large hallway. As everyone else caught up with her, they noticed that there were two doors.

"I guess we have to split up again." Amelia said.

"Gourry and I will take the door on the right." Lina interrupted. "Amelia and Zel can go to the left. And take Adara with you!"

"Fine. But then you have to take Xellos with **you**." Zel replied.

Xellos smiled. "You know, I don't think they like us," he said to Adara.

Lina just ignored him and opened up the door on the right. She held her breath, waiting for something to happen. When nothing did, she cautiously stepped through and disappeared in the darkness.

Gourry quickly grabbed Xellos and dragged him through the open doorway. He didn't want Lina to get too far ahead of them.

Then Zel, Amelia, and Adara went through the other door. They couldn't see anything until Zelgadis cast a lighting spell. The three then saw that the room was filled with mirrors.

"This is really… weird." Adara whispered. The room seemed like one of those rooms that you just have to whisper in.

Amelia then turned to Zel. "Mr. Zelgadis? Are you okay?"

However, Zel didn't even hear her. He had a spacey look in his eyes like he wasn't all there. In fact, he was staring intently at large mirror in the center of the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Inside Zelgadis' mind.] 

"_Huh? What's going on? Where am I?"  He looked around and saw that he wasn't in the mirror room anymore. Instead, a bright light now surrounded him. _

Then he heard a soft, distant voice. "You aren't in the physical world anymore. At least… not all of you… Before you can face what lies ahead of you in the future, you have to face the demons from your past." 

"_What?" he asked the voice. But then the light around him began to change. Soon, he found himself back at an all too familiar scene. _

His grandfather, and possible great-grandfather, Rezo the Red Priest, now stood before him. Only this time, he was an observer. He could see Rezo standing before his former self, his human self. The scene was frozen, like it had been stolen from its moment in time. 

"_Why did you bring me here?" he asked the voice. _

"I did not bring you here. I only pointed you in the right direction. You made the decision to revisit this scene from your past." 

He sighed. "_Then tell me why I must see this again. I have this dream every night._" 

"Do you regret the decision you made?" 

"_YES! __Of course I do!" _

"But you got what you wanted. Power and strength." 

"_But I wouldn't have agreed if I had known what the consequences were!" _

"Do you regret where that decision has led you?" 

He paused, confused. "_What do you mean, where it has led me?_" 

"Where you are now. The things you've done. The people you've met." 

"_Well… some of them yes. But… well, Lina and the others are okay. They have good intentions, even if they are a little misguided…" _

"If you had a second chance, would you do it different?" 

"_You mean would I say no?" Zel didn't know how to respond. _

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, back in the room, Amelia was getting worried. "Uh, hello?" she asked as she waved her hand in from of Zelgadis' face. There was no response. 

"_What is he staring at?" she thought. Then she followed his gaze until she saw the mirror. This mirror seemed different. It was… intriguing. She couldn't seem to draw her eyes off of it. Then Amelia began to feel weird. It was like she was falling asleep… _

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Inside Amelia's mind.] 

Amelia now found herself surrounded by the same bright light Zelgadis had been. "_Huh?_ _Mr. Zelgadis? Where did you go?_" 

A voice interrupted her thoughts. "Don't worry. He's not far." 

"_Who are you?" _

"My name is not important. Think of me as a guide." 

"_A guide?__ But where are we going?" _

"I was about to ask you the same thing…" The voice then trailed off as the light began to change. Amelia shut her eyes involuntarily. When she finally reopened them, she found that she was flying over her home kingdom of Seyruun. 

"_What?!__ How did I get in Seyruun?" _

"This is not the Seyrun you last saw. This one is from many years before…" 

Just then, Amelia reached the palace. She landed on a balcony. From inside, she could hear voices. 

"Sir, we've looked everywhere. There's no sign of her," said a nervous man. 

"Well keep looking!" This voice was a familiar one. It was Amelia's father, Prince Phil. 

"Yes sir!" the first man replied. Then footsteps were heard echoing on the tile floor. 

After a moment of silence, Prince Phil mumbled to himself, "What am I going to tell Amelia? How is she going to react when I tell her that her sister has disappeared?" 

Outside, Amelia gasped. "_But…but… this was years ago!_" 

"Apparently, it was a major event in your life." 

"_That still doesn't explain why I'm seeing it now." _

"Perhaps you never truly dealt with your feelings about it." 

Before she could respond, she heard voices coming from inside again. 

"Don't worry Daddy," a young girl said. It was Amelia's voice. "Everything will be ok. They'll find her." 

"I hope you're right," her father replied. He paused then continued. "I think you're handling this the best out of the two of us." He laughed, even though it sounded a little strained. "You know you'll always be my little girl." 

"Yeah, I know," young Amelia replied softly. 

"You were very strong for such a young girl." 

"_I had to be. My father needed me to be strong." _

"But you never expressed how you felt about the whole situation." 

"_Well… no…" _

"Do you ever wish you had?" 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adara had been looking around trying to figure out what all the mirrors were for. The she noticed Zel and Amelia. She walked up to them and noticed their blank expressions. Adara then looked from them to the mirror and then back to them. "I don't get it…" 

Then she heard the voice. "You're going to be stubborn aren't you?" it asked as the young girl was surrounded by light. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Inside Adara's mind.] 

"_Ok, what just happened?" _

"You might say we're in your mind." 

"_What?!_" 

The voice laughed softly. "Just relax. Close you're eyes and take a deep breath." 

"Just close your eyes and take a deep breath," a different voice told her. 

"What? Why?" she asked with her eyes closed. Then she felt cold water hit her from above and rush down over her face and back. "Why you little…!" she yelled as she opened her eyes. Adara then swung out her arm and watched in shock as she connected with the young boy's face in front of her. 

As she stood there, the light encircled her once more. When she could see her surroundings again, she found that she was in a familiar room. It was the kitchen of her parents' house. She saw a younger version of herself standing before her mother and father. 

"Adara! How could you do something like this?" her mother asked. 

Young Adara looked like she was about to cry. "I…I…I'm sorry…" 

"Sorry isn't good enough this time!" her father yelled. "Why do you have to be such a child? Can't you just grow up!" Then her father stormed out of the room. 

Her mother knelt down in front of her. "Adara-chan, please! Just behave! For me?" She then lowered her voice. "You know you make him so angry… So, just try not to get in any more trouble, ok?" 

Adara didn't need to see the rest. She ran for the door and flung it open. Then she was back in the light. After she calmed herself down, she shouted at the voice. "_I want to go back! I don't want to be here!_" 

"But if you are afraid of your own home, where will you go?" 


	9. Questions

Title: Slayers Gateway: Discovery 

By: Slayersgrl (slayersgrl@yahoo.com)  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Slayers… just borrowing them…

A/N: This is the first in a trilogy I'm working on. Only the first part, Discovery, is done so far… Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Meanwhile, Lina had just stepped through the other door. After making her way through the darkness, she found herself in a large open field.

"What the…?" she mumbled out loud. Just then, Xellos appeared beside her. He seemed a little disoriented, even though he was still smiling. "Xellos? Wait… where's Gourry?" Lina looked around, trying to see if he had ended up somewhere else.

"I'm not sure where he is…" Xellos said as he too looked around. "He was actually ahead of me when we went through the door." Then he added, "How did we end up outside? I thought…" But the mysterious priest didn't get to finish his sentence because he suddenly disappeared.

Lina turned around and noticed that she was now alone. "Xellos! Get back here!" When she got no response, she decided to start looking for a way out of the field.

Xellos' was thoroughly surprised when he felt himself being transported somewhere. Out of curiosity, he didn't try to teleport back to Lina. He soon found himself in a large marble throne room. At least, that's what it appeared to be. Xellos walked around examining the sparsely decorated room. Then he sat down on the large throne to wait for whoever had brought him there.

A voice from behind startled him. "You are a strange one indeed…"

"And why do you say that?" Xellos asked. He still couldn't see who was talking to him. Whoever it was still stood behind the throne.

"I can tell you have an old soul. And yet… those you choose to associate with seem like mere children."

Xellos frowned. "I have my reasons."

"Come now. There are no secrets here." As the last sentence was spoken, the owner of the voice stepped into view.

"Gourry?! Amelia?! Zelgadis?! Xellos?! … Adara?" Lina shouted in frustration. "Where is everyone?" She had been walking for a while now, but she still hadn't seen anyone.

Lina sighed. She was worried about the others, but she was especially worried about Gourry. "I hope he's okay." she whispered to herself.

Gourry slowly opened his eyes. "Whoa! What happened?" he asked. Then he glanced around and noticed that something wasn't quite right… After a moment he realized what was wrong. He was floating in the air!

Frantically, he reached out and tried to grab the wall. But it was just out of reach. "If anyone can hear me," Gourry yelled, "get me out of here!"

After a moment, a soft laughter interrupted the silence. "Don't worry. You're not in any danger."

"Huh? Who said that?" Gourry got no response. Then, angrily, he shouted, "What have you done with the others?" Yet again, there was no response. "If you hurt any of them…" he said as he reached for his sword.

"Calm down child! No one has been harmed." Then a slight breeze blew past Gourry. "Besides, even Gornova would have no effect against me."

Then a large gust of wind blew Gourry backward towards the stone wall. But instead of hitting it, he passed through it unharmed. There was a flash of light and then he was standing on solid ground. In fact, he was standing in the middle of a large open field…

Gourry sweatdropped. "I'm so confused…" But his thoughts were interrupted when he heard a familiar voice shouting. He ran towards the sound and saw who it was. "Lina? Hey Lina! I'm over here!" he called out as he kept running towards her.

Lina turned around and glanced in Gourry's direction. However, she had a bewildered look on her face. Then she turned back around and continued walking. 

Gourry kept calling out to her but the sorceress didn't seem to hear him. When he finally caught up to her, he reached to grab her shoulder. "Hey Lina. Didn't you hear me?" But she walked right through his hand! As if he wasn't even there… 

"What's going?" Gourry thought out loud. Then he ran up in front of Lina. "Lina? Hello?" But this time she walked right through him! 

The confused swordsman didn't know what to do. He figured he should at least follow Lina. Even if she didn't know he was there… 

Lina had been walking along when she suddenly felt a weird sensation. It was like she was being watched. She turned around to see if someone was behind her, but didn't see anything. There was only grass and sky as far as the eye could see. 

So, she kept walking. Suddenly, she felt very cold. Lina shivered slightly and kept walking. "There's something really weird going on here." 

"You can say that again!" Gourry muttered beside her. Of course, Lina didn't hear him. 

In another place, Xellos was now talking to a mysterious stranger. 

"Come now. There are no secrets here." As the last sentence was spoken, the owner of the voice had stepped into view.

Standing before the surprised Mazoku was a beautiful woman. She had long black hair that flowed out behind her. She wore a slim, dark purple dress with a long white cloak. Around her waist she wore a belt with a few keys attached. In her hand she held a long wooden staff with a jewel on the end. But the most startling of the woman's features were her eyes. They seemed to pierce through to the very soul of the priest sitting before her.

But Xellos was determined not to show how he really felt. Instead, he calmly stated, "So, why are you so interested in all my secrets? I'm sure they are of no concern to you." He paused and then opened his eyes. "After all, you are the keeper of this temple. Are you not?"

The woman smiled slightly. "Ah. You are quite perceptive."

Xellos returned to his normal smiling expression. "So, what did you do with the others?"

She didn't respond right away. Instead, she held her staff in front of her. The crystal at the end glowed a dull blue and then a circle of light appeared in the air. It dimmed until Xellos could discern some familiar looking figures.

"Oh, I see." He continued to watch through the glowing orb.

Back in the mirror room, three of the characters were still staring into the depths of one of the mirrors. Suddenly, Zelgadis seemed to wake up from the trance. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and then looked around. He was back where he had started out. "What's going on?" he asked.

Then the chimera noticed the two girls. They were both just standing there. "Oh great…" he muttered. Zel stood there for a moment, trying to figure out what to do. Then he spotted a conveniently placed bucket of water. He ran over, picked it up, and then proceeded to dump it on the head of the royal Princess of Seyruun.

Amelia reacted almost instantaneously. "AHHHHH!" she screamed as she blindly cast a Fireball.

"Amelia! No!" Zel yelled. But it was too late… The fireball exploded in front of him, hurling him into the mirrors behind. However, the spell did manage to awaken the other girl in the room…

"AHHHHH!" Adara screamed as she then fireballed Amelia. 

As Zelgadis was caught in the blast, again, he thought to himself, "_Why me?_" 

Gourry glanced over at Lina for what seemed like the hundredth time. "Can't you see me yet?" he asked. There was no response. 

Silence followed and then Gourry asked again, "How about now?" No response. 

About five minutes later, he was going to ask again when a low rumbling noise interrupted him. Lina seemed to have heard it too because she stopped and appeared to be listening for which direction it was coming from. 

The noise got louder until it was almost deafening. Lina and Gourry both held their hands over their ears to lessen the sound. Then, without warning, the ground shook and split open. 

Lina was caught off guard and fell through the deep hole. 

"Lina!" Gourry shouted as he reached out to catch her. But she fell right through his hands. There was nothing he could do as she disappeared in the darkness. 

Xellos was too absorbed in watching the orb to notice that the woman behind him suddenly disappeared.


	10. Let the Journey Begin

Title: Slayers Gateway: Discovery 

By: Slayersgrl (slayersgrl@yahoo.com)  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Slayers… just borrowing them…

A/N: This is the first in a trilogy I'm working on. Only the first part, Discovery, is done so far… Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Lina was rapidly falling through the darkness. She knew she should be scared, but some reason, she wasn't. She then abruptly came to a stop and hovered in the air.

"Ok… That was fun and all, but I think I'd like to go now," she said to the emptiness around her.

Then a figure materialized in front of her. It was the woman Xellos had met.

"Who are you?" Lina asked. She was tired of being in the dark, literally, about what's been going on.

"I am the guardian of this temple. The protector of the four winds. The keeper of the gateway."

"Wait! The gateway? Didn't that book say something about…"

"Yes," the woman interrupted. "The book contains the answers to your questions."

"WHAT?!" Lina fell over. "And I gave it to Adara?!"

The woman sweatdropped. "Such hostility! Perhaps you are only a child… like the others…" She paused, realizing that she now had Lina's attention. "Maybe I shouldn't show you…" Her voice trailed off.

Lina's eyes sparkled with curiosity. "Huh? Show me what?!"

She didn't respond right away. Then woman turned and looked directly at Lina. She had a sad look in her eyes. "Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you… It's not going to be what you want to see."

Then the darkness disappeared in an explosion of light.

Amelia and Adara smiled innocently at the ash covered chimera standing before them. "Sorrry!" they said in unison.

"Whatever… let's just get out of here." Zel turned to leave when the room was filled with a bright light. "What now?" he muttered.

When the light dimmed, the three found themselves in a courtyard. "Great! Now who knows **where we are!" As Zel turned around, he found himself face to face with a smiling mysterious priest.**

"Ahhh!" Zel screamed in surprise as he fell over. He then quickly stood back up and tried to regain his composure. "What do you want?" he asked. Then to himself he thought, "_I was hoping he had gotten lost in here somewhere…"_

"My my. You three seem to have been having some fun without me." Amelia was still soaking wet and Zelgadis was still slightly crispy. "Oh well. At least I did get to have an interesting… encounter… with our lovely host."

"What?" Zel grabbed Xellos' collar. "Tell me what you know! And I don't have time for your stupid games!"

"Well, if you would put me down… Thank you!" Xellos dusted himself off. "Now then, as I was saying…" He looked around the courtyard. "We seem to be missing a few people."

Zel clenched his fists angrily. "Dammit! Don't change the subject!"

"But Mr. Zelgadis…" Amelia interrupted. "He's right. Lina and Gourry aren't here."

Just then, they all heard someone screaming. "It sounds like it's coming from above us." Amelia said. Then they all looked up and saw something falling rapidly towards where they now stood. In fact, it appeared to heading straight to where Adara was.

The fire sorceress calmly watched as the object approached her. Then at the last second, she stepped to the side and let it impact with the ground.

The object turned out to be one disoriented Gourry. "Ow," was all he said as he climbed up out of the small crater made from the impact.

"Mr. Gourry! You're okay!" Amelia exclaimed as she ran up to him.

"Where's Lina?" he asked. Gourry quickly looked around for her, with one hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

Adara looked at Gourry strangely. "What do you mean? She's not here… I thought she was with you." Then she looked at Xellos. "Of course, I thought he was with you too."

Gourry paused for second. "Wait, you can all see me?"

"Yes, Gourry. We can see you. You are standing right in front of us." Zel said.

"Maybe you're not okay…" Amelia added. "I think you hit your head too hard on that fall."

Xellos stepped forward. "Why don't you tell us exactly what happened."

"Well, I was in this room. And then this voice was talking to me. Then there was this bright light and I was in a field. Lina was there… but she couldn't see me or hear me. Then we heard this noise… and there was an earthquake… and…uh… she…" Gourry didn't know how to say the last part.

"And? … Where's Lina now?" Adara asked when he didn't continue.

"She's…" he started, but then he was interrupted by a voice behind him.

"Right here."

Gourry quickly turned around and saw Lina standing there unharmed. "Lina! You're okay!" he exclaimed as he ran up and embraced her.

Lina blushed. "Of course I'm okay Gourry! It takes more than that to kill Lina Inverse."

"Well, it's great that you're in one piece and all… but now what are we going to do now?" Zel interrupted.

Luckily, no one had to think of a plan because the woman suddenly appeared before them.

"W…who's that?" Amelia asked. "She's so creepy!"

Adara quickly clamped a head over the other girl's mouth. "Amelia! Don't make her angry!"

Amelia just nodded her head as she stared at the woman with wide eyes.

"Don't be frightened. I won't hurt you."

Lina then asked, "You wouldn't happen to have a name would you? I mean, something we could call you…"

"A name?" She thought for a moment. "I would have no use for a name. But I suppose I can be called the Gatekeeper."

"Well, if you're a gatekeeper, where are your gates?" Zel asked as he gestured to the surrounding area. There was nothing that even resembled gates.

She just laughed in response. "Well, I believe they are in your possession."

"Oh! Yes, now it makes sense." Xellos thought out loud. "Those items we found…"

At the mention of the items, Zel pulled out the rolled up map and Adara pulled out the old book and the gold key.

"I don't think this will do us much good anymore." Zel said, referring to the map. "I guess it was only to guide us here."

"Well, there's still these." Adara held up the book and key.

Lina remembered something. "Oh! The book! Let me see it Adara!" Without waiting for her response, Lina grabbed the book and began flipping through the pages.

"Hey! I wasn't done with that yet!"

Lina ignored the girl and kept turning the pages. Then she stopped. "This has to be it!"

"What? What?" Adara asked as she tried to get a glimpse at the book. "Come on! I wanna see it too!" Finally, she was able to see what page Lina was on. "But that's the really old part!" she whined.

"You mean you can't read it!" Lina threw down the book in frustration. "This is just great!"

The woman, who had been watching them this whole time, suddenly held up her staff. The jewel began to glow brightly. Then the book opened and the pages began to turn themselves. Finally it stopped back on the page Lina was originally on. "Why don't you try to read it?"

"Me?" Lina was confused, but figured she had nothing to lose. So, she picked up the book. "But… wait…" She was at a loss for words. Now she could read the whole page perfectly.

"Lina?  What is it?" Gourry asked.

"It's… a spell." Then Lina shut the book. "Alright, let's give this a try."

Adara quickly grabbed the book from Lina and opened it up. "How can you tell what it says?" All Adara saw was the pages filled with an ancient language.

"Sometimes it's better not to ask." Zel mumbled.

Lina took a few steps forward. "Ok, here goes. Wish me luck!"

"Good luck Miss Lina!" Amelia said as she gave her a victory symbol.

Then Lina closed her eyes and began to concentrate on casting the spell. A soft breeze began to blow through the courtyard.

Everyone else, except for the Gatekeeper, quickly ran for cover. Just in case something 'accidentally' blew up…

Now the wind was stronger, rustling tree branches and picking up dust. A small whirlwind of air had surrounded Lina. Then she opened her eyes and held her hands in front of her. Quietly, she began the spell.

"Four winds of time and space"

Now the whirlwind surrounding Lina gained strength. In fact, it lifted her several feet off the ground.

"Infinite source shining for the abyss

I call forth your power here and now"

Dark clouds now obscured the clear night sky. The high winds blew the clouds in a circle above the courtyard.

"Together we can open the gateway

To the familiar and the unknown…"

Lina paused and then raised her voice.

"Destiny's Gate!"

As the spell was now completed, a quick flash of light filled the courtyard. When everyone was able to see again, they saw a large golden door in front of Lina. Then the winds abruptly stopped, dropping Lina to the ground and leaving the area in an eerie silence. 

Gourry immediately ran up to Lina. "Are you okay?" he asked as he helped her up. 

"I'm okay. I just don't think I'll be casting that spell for a little while…" 

Then the woman stepped in front of the door. "You have all earned your entrance to the gateway. But first, you must make a choice. I cannot tell you what you'll find if you choose to go through the doorway. You can take a chance and find out for yourself. Or… you can turn back now and go home. You must choose wisely because this is the only chance you'll get." 

There was silence again as everyone thought about their decision. Lina was the first to decide. 

"Well, we've come this far. I'm going!" 

"Then I'm going to!" Gourry said. He smiled at Lina. "After all, I am your guardian." With that, he patted Lina on the head. 

Lina ignored him and turned to the others. "So, what about the rest of you?" 

"I'm going Miss Lina! There could be evil and injustice waiting for us, but with the swift hammer of justice, we will triumph in the end!" 

Zel sweatdropped at Amelia's speech. Then he sighed. "What have I got to lose. Maybe I'll finally be able to find a cure." 

"That's the spirit Zel!" Lina smiled as she patted him on the back. 

"I'll go!" Adara said. Then she glanced nervously at Lina. "I mean… if you don't mind…" 

Lina smiled even more. "Sure you can come Adara. The more the merrier, right?" 

Adara smiled back happily. 

Then everyone turned to Xellos. He thought about it for a moment and then smiled. "You don't honestly think I'd miss out on something like this, do you?" 

"Ok, it's all settled then! Let's go!" Lina then turned to Adara. "Can I have the key now?" 

She gripped it defensively. "What? Why do you get it!" 

"Well, unless you want to go first…" Zel whispered to her. 

Adara quickly shook her head no and handed the key to Lina. 

Lina held her breath as she stepped up the door. She put the key in the lock and turned it. The door then swung open revealing only a bright light. Lina closed her eyes and stepped through, anxiously thinking about where they were going to end up… 

~*~ The End ~*~ 

_For now… _


End file.
